Yep, the ship is righted at Duke. That was a big time win.
At Carolina we've been dealt a potential blow to legit national title hopes with Kenny Williams being out for the season. He's not a name even most college basketball fans will know but he was incredibly important to our team. Easily the best perimeter defender (and overall defender as well) and an unselfish starter.
Now Theo Pinson breaks into the starting lineup in place of Williams. On the face, it looks like an improvement. And maybe it is. But Theo's energy off the bench was, to my mind, a better fit. He will have to work extremely hard to cut down on jump shots, taking it to the rim when the offense breaks down like he did last night at NC State (and, to be clear, he won't have wide open lanes again this year like he did last night except for maybe the first round of the ACC and the first round of the NCACC).
But most concerning to me is that he now has to play a ton of minutes and stay healthy, something he has never been able to do. Our depth, a huge advantage for us, takes a major hit. Brandon Robinson, who I like, will have to contribute meaningful minutes as well. Nate Britt now plays a more prominent role which, God love the kid, is not always a positive. He's a vet, a tenacious defender on the right guys (and entirely too small and easily abused on the wrong guys) that, like Theo, has to resist the urge to shoot jump shots. He, again like Theo, is also more careless with the ball.
